Hydrothermal fluid flow triggered by an earthquake in Iceland

Microearthquake hypocenters were analyzed in the Krýsuvík geothermal area in SW-Iceland with data taken from two consecutive passive seismic surveys, 2005 and 2009. Five years prior to the 2005 survey, this area was struck by an earthquake initiating a major top-to-bottom fluid migration in the upper crust. We observe from our surveys a complex bottom-to-top migration of seismicity with time following this fluid penetration, suggesting the migration of a pore pressure front controlled by the upper-crust fracture system. We interpret these data as the time and space development of high-temperature hydrothermal cells from a deep upper crustal fluid reservoir in the supercritical field. These results provide an insight into the coupling mechanisms between active tectonics and fluid flow in upper-crustal extensional systems with high thermal flux.

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Geoffroy Laurent, Dorbath Catherine, Ágústsson Kristján, Kristjánsdóttir Sigríður, Flóvenz Ólafur G., Doubre Cécile, Gudmundsson Ólafur, Barreyre Thibaut, Bazin Sara, Franco Aurore (2022). Hydrothermal fluid flow triggered by an earthquake in Iceland. Communications Earth & Environment. 3 (1). 54 (9p.). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-022-00382-0, https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00755/86691/

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